How long have you worked at the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáne?

I have been here since 2014. It hasn't felt long however as I have changed my role three times - I was the Education Department Coordinator, a Curatorial Assistant and now I am one the Curators. It has been like having three different jobs but in the same space. This has allowed me to experience the museum from different perspectives, not only changing from one desk to another but also thinking about the role of the museum in general and how institutions can be occupied.

Did you aspire to work at the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáne?

Actually, yes. I have been interested in contemporary art practices from a very early age... and here in Mexico City there were not many contemporary art museums or spaces (this has changed a lot in five or six years, now there are plenty of locations). Six years ago, the Museo Tamayo was, to me, one of the most interesting places to explore contemporary artworks and learn about new relevant international artists too. 

What do you like most about the architectural design of the building?

Truly a lot of things, I never stop thinking about this building. I shall mention one, in particular: I like the way the building is not predictable from the outside and, in some parts, from the inside. You can't easily gauge where the offices are, how many floors it has, how many galleries. We have a lot of interior windows that can't be seen from the outside and, as a result of all of that, you cannot locate yourself quickly. Sometimes in the elevator, which I don't use often, I still have to double-check the number of the floor I want to go, because the building doesn't relate to a vertical approach for making buildings (where the logic is to make one floor just one above the other) here it doesn't happen visibly. This is even more noticeable since the extension of the building in 2011-2012.

I would like to say that there is a special symbiosis with the building and the park that surrounds it, it becomes part of the indoor space, somehow it introduces the building... that's the part I would miss most, the parks intervention into the building.

Do you have a favorite lunch spot or corner for contemplation?

Yes, but it is more like a favorite spot in general. There is a terrace very close to my workspace where I like to spend time for lunch, relax with a coffee, talk with my colleagues, take phone calls, or even take a quick sunbathe! It is like a "structured oasis": 20% concrete, 30% vegetation and 50% sky and city skyline. Because of its appearance, it invites you (or forces you) to have a break, it is like you are not in the building anymore, you cannot see it, you could be anywhere... you are in a suspended platform. 

What time of the year do you most enjoy the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáne?

I like the museum in the mornings and during spring and summer. The light is warmer which heats up the indoors, which for me makes the whole building more liveable and less inhospitable for the people working here but also for the visitors. It feels more cosy, more intimate... and in a gray building made out of concrete, I think that is a challenge. However, I have to say that I also like the museum at nights and during the rainy season, because it turns into a very mysterious environment, much darker, even if all the lights are on. It changes radically during seasons but also throughout the course of one day.

It is like a "structured oasis": 20% concrete, 30% vegetation and 50% sky and city skyline

How does the building itself affect your job?

As I have to oversee the artwork's installations, the building is something I have to consider at all times, so it affects my job directly. Since all the exhibitions are different, me and my colleagues from the curatorial team are still finding out new things to keep in mind for the floorplans distribution. For example, in some galleries, we can use the ceiling to hang things up, in other specific parts we can't. Each time we have to ask the museographic team the particularities of the space and work together to find solutions if something needs to be changed or adapted. 

This museum has a lot of secrets and qualities we must not lose sight of, like the sunlight, the wooden floor, the ceiling, the original walls, the fake walls, the entrances, and the ramps. We even have to consider the noise, because there are interior windows without glass so, if you put an artwork with audio in a specific part, possibly the sound will interfere with another space. 

Is there anything you don’t like about the building?

There is something that I wouldn't say I do not like because I find it very interesting but is something that makes my work more difficult: that the museum does not have exact measurements. It doesn't have perfect lines, square walls or perfect frames, doors, windows, etc, it doesn't have one exact measurement from the floor to the ceiling or from wall to wall.  For some art installations, this is obviously very important and we need to find a way to work around this. With the naked eye, you would never notice that there are differences of up to 10-15 cm from wall to wall or floor to ceiling, but the thing I like about this is that it alludes to the way it was constructed.

If you left your job what would you miss most about the Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáne?

I would like to say that there is a special symbiosis with the building and the park that surrounds it, it becomes part of the indoor space, somehow it introduces the building... that's the part I would miss most, the parks intervention into the building.